Following the Euler white cat and the black cat, another A00-class (micro) new energy model stopped receiving orders.
On April 24, Changan New Energy announced that due to the recent shortage of upstream raw materials and the limitation of vehicle and parts production capacity, the delivery cycle of the E-Star national version of the Ben model has been long, and the order collection of the E-Star national version model will be suspended from 00:00 on April 25, 2022.
Changan said that it will go all out to coordinate production resources to meet the scheduling plan of existing orders and ensure that users who have booked cars can pick up cars as soon as possible.
A Changan automobile sales staff confirmed to the surging news that the car pick-up cycle is longer, "The fastest running may take 3 months, the specific time is not easy to say, there are also waiting for half a year." ”
Previously, great wall motor's Euler brand also suspended the acceptance of orders for black cats and white cats, two A00-class cars, which have not yet resumed. Many people in the industry believe that with the continuous rise in raw material prices, the shortage of parts supply, and the decline in the price of double integrals, there may be more A00-class new energy models withdrawing from the market after that.
The suspended orders are all low-cost models
According to the official website, the Ben E-Star national version model that is about to stop receiving orders is a low-end model in the Changan Ben E-Star series. The low-end version of the national version of the model has long stopped taking orders.
With a total sales volume of 10,700 units in 2021, the Ben E-Star is the main model of Changan New Energy. According to the official website, The Ben E-Star has a variety of models such as the Qingxin Version (priced at 69,800 yuan), the Appreciation Edition (priced at 74,800 yuan), and the National Edition (29,800-53,800 yuan).
Source: Changan Automobile's official website
It is reported that as early as the end of 2021, Changan New Energy has stopped orders for low-cost versions such as the Xinyue Edition in the Changan Ben E-Star National Edition model, and has not yet recovered. These models that were stopped receiving orders are all low-priced models, ranging from 29,800 to 43,800 yuan. From April 25, the colorful version of the 53,800 yuan model will also stop receiving orders, and consumers can only buy 69,800 yuan and 74,800 yuan two models.
Source: Changan Automobile's official website
Coincidentally, Great Wall's Euler Automobile is also the first to take the low-cost model "knife".
On February 14, the Euler brand delivered a notice to the terminal that black cats and white cats would stop taking orders, but the high-priced good cat models were still selling normally.
It is reported that Euler Automobile has three main product lines: black cat, white cat and good cat. Among them, the price of black cats is 59,800-102,800 yuan; the price of white cats is 71,800-106,800 yuan; and the price of good cats is the highest, with a price of 121,900-151,900 yuan.
The resource tilt of car companies for high-priced models is very obvious. According to the data, in 2021, Euler Automobile sold 135,000 vehicles in the whole year, of which Euler good cat sales were 50,000 vehicles, accounting for 37%; and in January 2022 before black cats and white cats stopped receiving orders, Euler sold 13,000 vehicles, of which Euler good cat sales reached 9,020 vehicles, accounting for 68% of total sales.
Some dealers explained to the surging news that due to the low price of black cats and white cats, low profit margins, manufacturer resources are obviously inclined to good cats, "Last year, manufacturers have been ensuring the production and delivery of good cats, and the pick-up cycle of good cats is obviously much shorter than that of black cats and white cats, and dealers are also willing to sell good cats." ”
The price is low, the gross profit is low, and the loss of one is 10,000
The increase in the price of battery raw materials led by lithium is an important reason for the suspension of orders for A00-class new energy vehicles. Since entering 2022, with the decline of the national subsidy and the continuous rise in raw material costs, the new energy vehicle market has experienced two rounds of concentrated price increases, involving at least 20 car companies.
Industrial Securities mentioned in a recent research report that the current manufacturing cost of electric vehicles is 45% higher than that of fuel vehicles, and the power battery is the main reason for the high cost of the whole vehicle, the cost of the engine and auxiliary system of the fuel vehicle is about 20,000 yuan, and the cost of the electric vehicle battery is as high as 56,000 yuan. The Association of Passenger Transporters said a few days ago that it seems that the rise in lithium ore prices has led to the greatest pressure on A00-class vehicles.
On the evening of February 23, Dong Yudong, CEO of the Euler brand under Great Wall Motors, posted on the Euler Auto User App that the Euler brand has brought huge losses to the company.
Later, Dong Yudong explained the details of the loss at an event, from October last year to January this year, the battery cost of A00-class new energy vehicles rose by between 3100 and 3500 yuan. With the decline of the national supplement, the cost of the whole vehicle has increased by about 3400 yuan. Coupled with the impact of chip price increases, black and white cat bicycles lost nearly 10,000 yuan.
At the same time, Dong Yudong said that increasing the price on the basis of not increasing the configuration is difficult for consumers to accept.
An industry insider told the surging news that low-priceD A00 models are generally low in price and low in gross profit, and to cover the cost through price increases, their increase will be significantly higher. Taking the 59,800 yuan black cat model as an example, if the price increases by 10,000 yuan, the increase will be as high as nearly 17%. "Most of the consumers of this type of car are price-sensitive, and there is another type of consumer group that is the second family scooter, not just needed, but the sharp price increase will also lead to some customers waiting and seeing." He added.
In fact, in the current supply chain dilemma of "lack of core and less electricity", car companies have become an open "secret" to "abandon" low-cost models.
In 2021, the serious problem of "lack of core" forced car companies to reduce production to varying degrees. Mainstream car companies, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen, have tilted their chip resources to high-end models, and thus achieved profit margin improvement.
Volkswagen also announced that it will reduce overall car sales in the future and focus on producing higher-end models with higher profits. According to the Financial Times, the automotive industry has been increasing profits by increasing sales for the past few decades, and even discounting them sharply, and Volkswagen's new strategy marks that the automotive industry is undergoing profound changes.
The demand for double integration has declined, and car companies lack production power
In addition to the supply chain problems of continuous rise in raw material prices and shortage of parts supply, industry insiders generally believe that the decline in demand for double credits has also helped car companies reduce the output of low-cost A00-class models.
The "double credit policy" is commonly known as the "Measures for the Parallel Management of Average Fuel Consumption of Passenger Car Enterprises and New Energy Vehicle Credits". The Measures were issued on 28 September 2017, the essence of which is to form a market-oriented mechanism to promote the coordinated development of energy-saving and new energy vehicles through the establishment of a points trading mechanism.
The so-called "double integral" is: CAFC (Corporate Average Fuel Consumption, enterprise average fuel consumption) points and NEV (New Energy Vehicle) points, which are generally referred to as "fuel consumption points" and "new energy points" in the industry.
To put it simply, under the double points policy, car companies must achieve positive total points to meet the standard, and enterprises that do not meet the standards will be punished by suspending the declaration of high-fuel consumption products and suspending product production.
There are two ways to meet the standard, one is to be self-sufficient like new energy vehicle companies; the other is to obtain points from affiliated enterprises, such as the positive points obtained by SAIC-GM-Wuling in the production of Hongguang MINI Wuling, which can be used to offset the negative points of other brands of SAIC Motor Group; the third way is to purchase positive points from other enterprises to offset their own negative points.
From 2017 to 2020, the overall double integral pressure of mainland passenger cars continued to increase, and the positive NEV points in the single year of 2020 could not even make up for the gap of negative CAFC points, and the highest price of carbon credit transactions reached 3,000 yuan / point.
Entering 2021, with the steady increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles, the pressure of double integration of car companies has been significantly alleviated.
According to Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Association, the price of new energy credits in 2021 will be less than 1,000 yuan, or even less than 500 yuan.
The above-mentioned industry insiders told the surging news that the accumulation of double points is an important reason for car companies to vigorously promote low-cost A00-class passenger cars. However, at present, more and more car companies can achieve the offset of internal positive and negative points, coupled with the decline in the price of new energy points, the enthusiasm of car companies to sell such models has been greatly reduced.
The "double integral" situation of domestic passenger car enterprises
However, on the market demand side, the demand for A00-class models is still relatively strong. According to the data of the Association of Passenger Vehicles, in 2021, the sales volume of A00-class models will account for 33% of the sales of pure electric passenger cars. According to the analysis of the Association, A00 is a long-term rigid demand, under the trend of aging consumer groups, there is a huge room for development of micro-electric vehicles in the future.